“I was lucky enough to get the honor of welcoming you here by graduating second in the class. I had to maintain a high enough GPA to beat out every other person on this stage…but one,” I say, nodding to where Daniel Vegas, the valedictorian, is sitting, and I get a nice chuckle from the crowd. “But I almost didn’t make it up here. There was this not-so-bright idea I had to take off-campus PE even though those closest to me knew it would be a disaster. And it almost was. You see, I thought the hard classes—the AP classes—were the only ones that deserved my attention. Those were the only ones that mattered. But I was so wrong. While good grades were the sole requirement for me to make it up here on this stage, holding this honor, I don’t think that’s how it should be. There is so much more to high school than that. So many more things that are just as important. So now I’d like to ask a few people to join me up here.”
I geta lookfrom Mr. Spencer as I take my speech off the rails. “Marcus Washington, would you please join me?” Glancing back at the students sitting behind me, I can see they’re bewildered. But thankfully, Marcus gets up from his seat and weaves his way through. Once he’s next to me, I give him a smile and say to the crowd, “Marcus was the leading receiver for our football team. He broke three state records and will be playing D1 football in the fall. He was one of the team captains and his enthusiasm and drive helped take the team to a 10–1 season. He deserves to be up here as much as I do.”
The applause for Marcus is deafening and several loud whistles pierce the air.
“Will Jemma Calliope please come up here?”
Jemma squeals when I call her name and joins us quickly.
“Jemma is captain of the debate team and led them to state. She’s also in Law Studies and argued in mock trial, beating every other team in town. This is not a girl you want to get in an argument with. And she deserves to be up here as much as I do.”
Jemma pulls me into a hug. I have to wait for the applause to die down before I can call the next person.
“Will Joey Paderewski please come join us?”
Joey stands up, pumps his fists in the air, and yells, “On my way!”
We all cheer as he jogs up to the podium.
“Joey is one of the most talented artists I’ve seen. He’s already had works shown in galleries and his pieces are hanging in several homes throughout the city. But he also made sure we had the best banners and signs at games and events. He will be attending Savannah School of Art and Design in the fall and I know it’s only a matter of time before he’s a household name. He deserves to be up here as much as I do.”
Joey blows me a kiss and takes a bow for the cheering crowd.
Mr. Spencer is about to lose it, but I have one more I want to do before he forcibly removes me from the stage.
“Will Vanessa Singleton please come up here?”
We all watch Vanessa get up from her seat, a little nervous, but she finally joins us at the podium.
“Vanessa is the editor of our school newspaper and the yearbook. She’s worked tirelessly for four years to make sure everything that happens at our school is recorded for history and shared with the school. No one would know of all the great things this class has done if it weren’t for Vanessa. She deserves to be up here as much as I do.”
Our parents and friends and family are now standing and clapping for all of us. I have to almost scream to be heard over them.
“I could stand up here all day and ask student after student to join us, but I’ve already blown through my time and there’s a really good chance I’ll be escorted off soon, so I’ll finish by saying I’m honored to share this stage with all three hundred and seventy-seven members of this graduating class. It took all of us to make it. Now let’s do this!”
Our small group waves to the crowd as they clap and shuffle back into their seats.
I return to my spot among my classmates and search the audience, knowing it’s useless to try to find my family in the sea of faces. Then I turn around and find the ones who are sharing the stage with me. Wes is down the row on one side of me and Charlie is down the row on the other side. They are grinning at me and I wish I could hug them. I know Sophie is out in the audience, but I wish she were up here with us.
Once the ceremony is over, the convention center is pandemonium, with family members trying to locate their graduates for the requisite pictures. Nonna already sent out a text to the whole family, including Wes and Leo, saying we are to meet outside near the giant oak tree. One by one, we all make our way there and the handful of us who just graduated are kissed and hugged and passed through the crowd. Wes’s poor parents are sucked up in the middle of this chaos, but they’re probably used to it after all these years.
“Okay, everyone!” Nonna yells. “All the graduates get together for a picture!” Those of us in blue robes all move to the center of the group. “Sophie and Leo, that means you, too!”
The Fab Four move to one side with the Evil Joes and their boyfriends on the other, Leo in the middle bridging us all together. We throw our arms around one another and pull in tight. Every aunt and uncle has their phone out to record the moment.
And no matter what the next four or forty years bring, I know everything will be okay as long as I have these people around me.
I finished this book in the first few months of the Covid-19 lockdownand it was hard writing about high school graduation and all of those wonderful end-of-high-school traditions and parties while my own son was a senior and missing out on those very experiences. It was especially bittersweet when that same son, Ross, helped me figure out the ending. This book is for all of those seniors. I’m sad your last year of high school didn’t end the way you planned, but I know your future is bright!
As always, thank you to my agent, Sarah Davies, for your continued support. I’m grateful you’re on my side.
A huge shout-out to my editor, Heather Crowley, and the entire team at Hyperion. From the editing to the production to the marketing and publicity, I’m so thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you, Lucia Picerno for the beautiful cover art! I love it!
To Elle Cosimano and Megan Miranda, my critique partners who turned into friends who turned into family. Love you both.
I was as clueless about golf as Olivia was, so I definitely needed some help! Thank you to Katherine Webb, Ricky Rogers, and Marshall Laborde for helping me figure out all of the ways Olivia could mess it up. Any and all mistakes made and liberties taken are all on me.
To my friends and family: I’m so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for the continued love and support. And a special thank-you to Missy Huckabay, who said, “What if she screws up her off-campus PE?” when I was trying to figure out exactly what this book was going to be about.
A special shout-out to the winner of the Loyola College Prep Preview Party’s “Name a character” winner: Gabe Cantu! Thanks for letting me use your name!
The last and biggest thank-you goes to my husband, Dean, and our boys, Miller, Ross, and Archer. I’m so thankful you are mine.
